Medieval Candlemaking

The Candle Maker Candles have been used as a light source for at least 5,000 years. Early candles were usually made from animal fat called tallow Early candle wicks were made of rushes Around the 1200 candle making became a guild The candle maker or chandler made candles for people of all levels of society. Noble households would have their own chandler responsible for wax and candles, as well as a special room called the chandlery where the candles were kept.

The Chandler’s Guild When candle making became a guild, candle makers would make candles from tallow Around 1300 people found they could use beeswax to make candles As time went on tallow chandlers and beeswax chandlers broke into 2 separate guilds Both guilds were very completive and very secretive about their methods Both types of candles had pros and cons

The Tallow Candle Tallow Pros Ingredients were easy to obtain Ingredients were cheap Because they were cheaper make more people could afford to by them Tallow Cons Smelled like cooking meat all the time Burned quickly Very smoky

The Beeswax Candle Beeswax Pros Smelled sweet like honey Burned slower and lasted longer Not as smoky as tallow candles A better candle meant you could charge more Beeswax Cons Difficult to obtain Expensive ingredients Only rich families and kings could really afford them